Shima Seiki has launched yarnbank, a yarn sourcing web service. Developed in cooperation with yarn companies from around the world, the service provides registered users free access to the yarnbank archive of yarn information and digital yarn data. Users can also download yarn data free, for use in fabric simulation and virtual sampling on Shima’s SDS ONE APEX4 design system as well as APEXFiz subscription-based design software, which was also announced last month.

By using yarn available for actual production, users are assured the simulations created using yarnbank are not merely realistic images but accurate representations with yarns that can actually be purchased and used in production. Such clear communication is possible with yarnbank by bringing together each player in the supply chain—spinner, knit manufacturer and apparel company—and connecting them digitally to eliminate trial-and-error sample making that is the legacy of obsolete analogue fashion production.

Registration on the website is free to APEX users, while yarn companies can choose from different plans for registering their yarn on yarnbank. For yarn companies, yarnbank serves as a brand-new promotional platform with the opportunity to present their yarns directly to their customers. In that respect, yarn companies can reduce their dependence on traditional sample books as a means to promote their products, saving time, cost and material and doing their part for sustainability.